Diss track
A song that insults or criticizes a person, group, or rival, often as part of a public feud. It uses music and lyrics to make the attack public.
Battle rap: A form of hip-hop performance in which opponents compete through improvised or prepared lyrical attacks. Diss tracks draw on battle rap’s techniques of direct address, insult, and verbal one-upmanship.
The Sugarhill Gang: An American hip-hop group whose 1979 single “Rapper’s Delight” helped bring rap to a mass audience. Their record sparked a prominent early rap feud with the Fatback Band over who recorded rap first.
No Vaseline: Ice Cube’s 1991 song attacking his former group N.W.A. and its manager Jerry Heller. It is a landmark example of a former member directing a sustained attack at his old group.
Response song: A song written to answer or counter an earlier song, claim, or performance. A response may address a diss without matching its insults or becoming another attack.
Punchline: A brief, forceful line whose unexpected ending delivers humor, insult, or emphasis. A sharp punchline can make a diss memorable and easy to repeat.
The Fatback Band: An American funk and disco group that released the rap single “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” in 1979. Their early record became part of a dispute over precedence with the Sugarhill Gang.
Hit ’Em Up: The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1996 diss track aimed at Tupac Shakur and Bad Boy Records. Its explicit threats and personal attacks illustrate how far a recorded feud can escalate.
Parody: A work that imitates another work’s style or features for comic or critical effect. Parody mocks through imitation, while a diss track centers an attack on a target.
Wordplay: The deliberate use of ambiguity, sound, or multiple meanings for rhetorical or comic effect. Rappers use double meanings and name-based puns to sharpen attacks without stating them plainly.
Roxanne Wars: A series of 1980s hip-hop records responding to U.T.F.O.’s song “Roxanne, Roxanne.” The conflict showed how one diss could generate a chain of competing replies.